Woman With Basketball by Carol Aus

Woman with BasketballCarol AusNovember 20, 1909

Dr. James Naismith is credited with inventing basketball in 1891, and apparently it didn’t take long for the ladies to try their hand at the sport. A Norwegian artist named Carol Aus (1868-1934), about whom little is known, painted this young player for a 1909 Post cover.

Woman Playing Tennis by George Brehm

Woman Playing TennisGeorge BrehmAugust 3, 1907

We have plenty of cover art showing a pretty lady posing with a tennis racket or other sports equipment, but an action shot like this tennis player makes a person wonder how the artist did it. A person might also wonder how the lady was so active in a long skirt. This is from 1907.

Lady Fishing by Harrison Fisher

Lady FishingHarrison FisherAugust 16, 1902

We have dozens of covers depicting the art of fishing, the first of which was Grover Cleveland fishing in 1901. The second, in 1902, was of a lady reeling one in! Harrison Fisher was a big name in Post covers, doing nearly 80 between 1900 and 1915.

The Finals and Alice Gray by Pete Fountain

The Finals and Alice GrayPete FountainMarch 21, 1903

We have numerous depictions of the great game of golf, also. This is one of the earliest, from 1903. Maybe they couldn’t vote, but women could certainly golf…and fish, hunt, play tennis, basketball and baseball.

Woman Archer by J.J. Gould

Woman ArcherJJ GouldJune 1, 1907

This is another action painting. Early Post artist J.J. Gould went for verisimilitude in this one from 1907. The lady looks like she knows what she’s doing.

Woman on Horseback by Philip R. Goodwin

Woman on HorsebackPhilip R. GoodwinJune 9, 1906

Hundreds of covers depict a lady reading, holding flowers or a fan, or simply looking lovely in a beautiful gown. This 1906 cover shows many of the fair sex were made of sterner stuff.

Classic Covers: Women in Sports in the 1900s The Saturday Evening Post

Dr. Mark Sobor, a family holistic health physician in Chicago, provides these symptoms, and solutions, for treating tennis elbow:

What is it?

Tennis Elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, is a repetitive use injury of the wrists and forearms that results in pain or inflammation of the outside of the elbow. Almost anyone can develop it.

What happens?

Tennis elbow is caused by spasms in and around the supinator and extensor muscles of the forearm. You use supinator muscles to turn your hands out, as if holding a bowl of soup. The extensor muscles come into play during a backhanded hit in tennis.

When not properly stretched or strengthened, these muscles tighten, pull against the atttached tendons, and eventually cause inflammation and pain.

An ounce of prevention

Try these techniques to stretch and strengthen your forearm and shoulder muscles before use, whether playing tennis or simply sweeping the floor:

1. Press and stretch (soft tissue release). Hold your arm straight out in front of you, with the palm facing downward. Place the opposite hand on your fingers. Push down until fingers are pointing towards the ground. Continue to apply gentle tension until fingers are pointing back towards your body. Repeat with other arm. Applying pressure to the muscles as they are being stretched help release soft tissue.

2. Massage helps reduce muscular tightness and accompanying tension on the tendons.

3. When it comes to tennis, consult a trainer about proper hitting technique to avoiding overstraining your muscles.

A pound of cure

Acupuncture to treat key trigger points in and around the forearm can successfully release muscles spasms. Instead of steroid therapy, opt for homeopathic injections of inflamed tendons and muscle spasms to decrease pain and swelling in tissues and joints.

Dr. Sobor is affiliated with Chicago Healers http://www.chicagohealers.com/, which hosts a website featuring articles and recommendations from holistic health experts.

Tennis Elbow The Saturday Evening Post

To mark the occasion, Grand Slam tennis champ and TV broadcaster Mary Joe Fernandez is serving up advice to help parents and kids with asthma learn all they can about the chronic disease that inflames and narrows airways, making it hard to breathe.

More than 16 million adults and 7 million children in the U.S. have asthma.

Diagnosed with asthma at the age of 20 and mother to son Nicholas who also has asthma, Mary Joe is doing a live video web chat on September 13 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT.

Topics will include how she overcame the challenges of asthma to achieve a successful tennis career as well as tips for parents to get the best care for their kids who have the persistent breathing problem.

To register for the live video webcast and submit your question, visit EveryoneBreathe.com http://www.everyonebreathe.com/, a website sponsored by pharmaceutical company Sepracor Inc. that features downloadable tools for parents such as a Back-to-School checklist, Asthma Action Plan, and Trigger Tracker.

The live chat with Mary Joe Fernandez will also appear on the website in October and be available for about one year.

Take a Swing at Asthma The Saturday Evening Post